Gift of a Roanoke artist’s painting to South Korean sister city proves a historic first

The delegation from Wonju, South Korea, that visited Roanoke this spring soon will have in their possession a permanent reminder of Southwest Virginia’s pastoral woodlands.

As Wonju officially bestowed a gift of art to Roanoke in commemoration of 60 years of city sisterhood, the city of Roanoke and Roanoke Valley Sister Cities reciprocated with an art gift of their own.

Roanoke artist Susan Egbert’s acrylic batik piece “Virginia Views” was presented to Wonju Mayor Won Gang Soo during a May 17 luncheon at the Berglund Center, and has since been shipped overseas to its new home.

This present is even more of a historic milestone for Wonju than Roanoke organizers realized. Of more than 11,000 artifacts in the South Korean city’s art collection, “this is the first international artist-donated artwork,” wrote Wonju assistant administrative officer Soohyun Paek in a direct message.

“It is an honor to have had this painting selected as a gift to one of our Sister Cities, made even more so finding out it is the first piece of art ever given to Wonju,” said Egbert.

An upstate New York native who has lived in the Roanoke Valley for 34 years, Egbert didn’t create “Virginia Views” with Wonju in mind. A member of the artist collective that runs the Left of Center Art Space gallery in downtown Roanoke, Egbert found inspiration in a photo taken by fellow artist Patti Kapral at a hunt camp in Botetourt County.

“I liked the way the viewer was brought into the scene and the quiet, peaceful atmosphere,” Egbert said.

Aware that Wonju intended to commemorate the diamond anniversary with an art gift, and acting on a request from Roanoke Valley Sister Cities Wonju Committee chairwoman Ramona Kirsch, Sister Cities President Mary Jo Fassié scouted regional galleries for an artwork to gift in kind. Reviewing the candidates, the committee chose “Virginia Views.”

“The committee liked the idea of sending artwork that represented the area of Virginia in which we live,” Fassié wrote in an email. “They were also intrigued by the fact that the artwork by Susan Egbert was created on rice paper. In addition, they liked the color composition of the piece, which creates a calming and serene atmosphere.”

Egbert, 69, has worked in multiple media throughout her career. Her latest works, including “Virginia Views,” are acrylic paintings on rice paper that make use of the batik technique, in which color blending is controlled using layers of wax.

She works from darker to lighter colors, and when she wants to make sure that part of a painting will remain unchanged when she adds new pigment, she uses melted wax to coat that area of the rice paper, preserving the hues beneath. Once she has completed coloring to her satisfaction, she removes the wax. The end result features softly blended colors and a distinct, almost scratchy texture. She finds the process meditative, she said.

Wonju has given three gifts of art to Roanoke through the six decades of the sister city relationship, all of which remain on display in a show that opened in May at the Taubman Museum of Art .

The first, a 12 ^th century Goryeo Dynasty vase, Wonju gave to Roanoke in 1965, the year after the sister cities relationship began. The most recent, artist Song Ki-sung’s “Geumgangsan, or Bongraesan Mountain Drawing,” features iridescent mother-of-pearl inlay.

Egbert’s work appears to be the first gift of permanent art from Roanoke to its South Korean sister. Though Roanoke Valley Sister Cities chose the piece, the city of Roanoke purchased it, enabling the exchange.

Paek shared that neither city officials nor the Wonju Sister Cities organization know of any previous art gifts from Roanoke, with the exception of records indicating some children’s art sent to Wonju in 1968.

Wonju officials have yet to determine how Egbert’s painting will be displayed. Won, the mayor, has ambitions to found a civic museum of art to display Wonju’s extensive art collection. In the meantime, “We are considering several options such as keeping it in the Mayor’s office room,” Paek wrote.

In the meantime, Roanoke Valley Sister Cities is the recipient of another art gift that will be displayed closer to home. Roanoke artist Chico Harkrader has donated an abstract artwork, called “Triad,” to the Sister Cities’ Opole, Poland, committee. Harkader previously represented Roanoke Valley Sister Cities at a summer art residency in Opole.

Now part of Roanoke County’s art collection, “Triad” is on display in the South County Library at 6303 Merriman Road.

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